Catching Mice...A rough guide by Ozzie

This is my rough guide to hunting down and catching Mice in my very own words & Pictures.

My Pal Percy & Me. 
He sometimes lends a hand when I go Hunting.

Now the first thing I hear you say is - ''Ozzie you only have one eye old friend, doesn't that make it difficult to catch Mice's '', well the answer to that is a Big No ! I think because I lost the sight in my left eye gradually as the Tumour grew, by the time it had to be removed I had adapted to it very well. 
I can still do my old trick of running at full speed from my outdoor run through the cat flap into the Conservatory through the Kitchen door Cat flap ( which I have taken off its hinges on three occasions & on two of those have ended up in the living room wearing the Flap around my middle ! ) now its into the living room taking a tight right hander up the stairs, then right again at the top of the stairs, into the bedroom around the bed and repeat in reverse order. Most times I have the added pressure of my Sister chasing me about an inch from my tail !

All Harnessed up and ready to go on Patrol !

Setting out on Patrol

Now lets get on to the important stuff like.......catching Mice's !
Yes I know what's coming now, you are going to say ''Ozzie not only do you have one eye but when you go outdoors you wear a Harness & have your Mum or Dad with you''.
That is very true but my track record of three Mice caught so far this year means its not hampering my Hunting abilities.

So far all my hunting successes have been when I'm out with my Dad we are bit like ''The A Team'', I'm like John ''Hannibal'' Smith and my Dad is more like ''Howling Mad'' Murdock ! - we then put on our virtual Cloaks of invisibility & switch to 'Stealth Mode' - its only then that .......We are ready to go a Hunting !

The Meeting !
A Plan of Action is Hatched
Percy thinks we should start by going that way....I think the
other way....might have to toss a coin to decide this one !

On Patrol.

Percy is checking the perimeter fences for possible Targets ! 

The first thing is a thorough  Patrol of the Garden making a mental note of potential places of interest, it helps if you have a friend to help i.e. ''A Percy'', (We loosely base ourselves as the Cat version of the ''Chuckle Brothers'') - you can cover more ground with two of you.  The next step is having identified possible sites of interest, more in depth investigation is needed.

Lets take a look by this fence:

This looks like a likely place ! 

No.... I don't think they live here any more ! 

No Good.........Lets move on to another possible site !

Before we do.....I need to keep my energy levels up, so time to pop indoors and have a Tasty 'Stick Treat'.I love them..... but my Mum & Dad say they smell like ''Sweaty old Socks'' !

That was Delicious... I'm all topped up with Energy
........so lets carry on Hunting !

Now this looking more promising.
I'm detecting a strong smell of Mice 

Yes I can definitely smell Mice's ! 

Now lets take a look lower down the wall. 

I'm sure there is something in here, I think a little Paw
 investigation is needed here !  

Time to get my Paw really deep into the wall
(Mental note to myself, don't get your Paw stuck,
that would be embarrassing !)

We are having no luck here........time to move to another spot !
Lets take a look in the undergrowth !

I'm going in !

Gone deep undercover.......
just patiently waiting for any sign of movement.

Here we go ....think I've spotted some movement in here !

Yes I was right...... let me at it !

Success ! 

''Proud Ears''

Just let you know the mouse was not harmed. I have a ''gentle mouth'' and  Dad made me let it go (didn't want to though !)  it then ran off, never mind I can always catch up with it another day !

I hope this might have been of help to some of you.
Thank you for taking the time to read my article, hopefully there will be more stories and adventures to come in the near future


x Ozzie x 

Update Time

Hello Pals.

Just a quick update: Have now got my new .uk domain name set up & running so now you can find me here at www.ozziecat.uk 

Just finishing off my very interesting 'Rough Guide to catching Mice', that should be all done and ready to go early next week......so watch this space !

Have a great Weekend everyone !

x Ozzie x

Hello Everyone !

Hello all. 

Its been a while since we have written stuff on our Blog 

( since my annoying eye business). I have now got my Dad motivated and he has promised to write my thoughts & observations down for me more regularly.

We have a new look to the Blog and have splashed out on a new domain name which we will be using shortly !

Me with *Thoughtful Ears*

So watch this space !

See you soon.

x Ozzie x

OZZIES PATHOLOGY REPORT BACK

When we first discovered that Ozzie had a Tumour growing in his eye we had a biopsy done at Referral vets Willows in Solihull see blog February 2013:  http://theozziecat.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/my-mate-ozzies-has-eye-trouble.html they were pretty well certain it was a Benign Tumour that would not spread but not 100% as they could only take a very small sample to test. We decided to have a full pathology report done when Ozzies eye was removed last week just to be fully sure for our own peace of mind. Yesterday the vet rang us to say that he had got the results back and the good news is, as was suspected it was the Benign Tumour they thought it was so it would not spread, that gave us the reassurance because in the back of your mind the thought that, maybe it wasn't was always there.

Ozzie is back to relaxing in his chair in the Conservatory

OZZIE'S COUNTING DOWN TO STITCHES COMING OUT !

Ozzie had another visit to the vets yesterday to check on his progress. Andy the Vet was very happy with the way it is healing up very nicely and the good news is that Ozzie has come off his medication which seemed to make him so very sleepy & lethargic, he was almost back to the old mad self again, he even went for a short visit outside on his harness which he really enjoyed.
Next Monday he is booked in to have his stitches removed, then 24hours later that very annoying collar can come off ! .He will be so happy about that because he gets so frustrated keep catching it on things and is a bit challenging when it comes to eating and drinking and the worst thing he can't get out to his outdoor run because the collar won't go through the cat flap to access it !. He will be so happy next week when things can start to get back to normal again

Ozzie waiting for a mess About !

 

Looks a nice day lets go explore !

 

This collar is so annoying!

 

QUICK VET VISIT TODAY FOR OZZIE

Ozzie had a routine visit to the Vet this morning to see how he is progressing since the operation on Monday, and the good news is its looking good, Andy the Vet is very happy with how it looks and unless there are any problems in the mean time his next check up will be next Monday & then if all goes to plan the following Monday the stitches can come out and that annoying collar can come off ! .
He is still a bit quiet and spends most of the time sleeping on our bed, saying that since he came back from the vets this morning he has settled himself down in the top of the airing cupboard, which is a lovely cosy place to have a nap and also well out of the way just in case anyone tries to bundle him in a cat carrier again.  Had his breakfast in bed again today hope he is not expecting this to become normal routine ! this has started something because  his sister Jasmine expected her breakfast upstairs as well today.

Ozzie having a nice little sleep in the Airing Cupboard.

OZZIE'S BACK HOME AGAIN !

Ozzie is now back home again after his operation, feeling a bit sorry for himself after his ordeal, we collected him from the vets yesterday afternoon as we suspected he did not enjoy his experience at all, He wouldn't eat anything at the vets they tried him on his favourite Gourmet Pearle Pouch but he wouldn't touch that and they even gave him some lovely freshly cooked fish & chicken, but no he wouldn't have any of it, so when he got home he was starving and got stuck in to his food straight away with a little difficulty as he has to wear an Elizabethan Type Collar to stop him scratching. The vet had warned us all along that it might be shock when we first see him after the Op as they have to shave his fur off around the area of the eye, so when they brought him out to us he didn't look as bad as we thought he would and when the stitches come out in about 10 days time and his fur starts to grows back he will have his handsome good looks back again. He has a course of antibiotics some anti inflammatory  medicines to take but luckily we can administer them in treats and in his food that makes life easier and also less stress for Ozzie !.
He has spent most of the time since he got home sleeping on our bed, got me up about 6am so he could get a drink from the bathroom sink then lay in the bath and had a nice bit of fuss for a while purring away as loud as you like, then it was back on the bed again where he remains at the moment, he even got treats & his breakfast in bed today ( little did he know they contained his medicines ) so I hope he doesn't expect this all of the time !.
Jasmine doesn't quite know what to make of her brother, when he came home she just sat and looked at him for a bit thinking it looks a bit like my brother, but there is something different about him !, then she preceded to follow him around watching then sniffing him which in the end Ozzie was beginning to get fed up so he went under our bed for a while until she got bored and left him alone. He will have to go back to the vets on Thursday just to check on his progress.

Ozzie relaxing after his Operation